One of the things about living in D.C. is one can encounter the rules and regulations of official Wor-Shing-Tun quite often–many people have to (or have had to) deal with various federal workplace policies. As information technology becomes more critical, many people have to take information security training as part of their employment responsibilities, even in agencies where you might not think that’s a critical issue (e.g., not the CIA, etc.).

A phrase often used is insider threat: someone who has access to the federal government’s information because they’re an employee (e.g., here’s the FBI’s introduction to insider threats). Looking across various federal agencies*, here’s a list of the features of the people who might be an insider threat that I compiled (I tried to stay true to their language):

• Vulnerability to blackmail, greedy, or has a large financial need.
• Destructive, compulsive, or passive-aggressive behavior; may also have narcissistic tendencies.
• Difficulty with criticism (personal or job-related).
• Minimizes mistakes, blames others and fails to take responsibility for them.
• Lacks empathy and loyalty, is ‘ethically flexible.’
• Has a sense of entitlement.
• History of frustration or disappointment, believes they haven’t received their due.
• Contempt for the United States government and/or the current administration.

Does this sound like any former president you know? As I noted on Monday, to assume Trump was just hoarding documents to salve his ego is a bad assumption–he is the definition of an insider threat and any other former federal employee who did what he has done would be thrown under the jail.

*Interestingly, some agencies have phrases like “divided loyalties” and “ideology” or “identification with cause”, while others do not.